Dubai - Land of Oppulence and Missing Luggage

In Dubai, I was fortunate enough to stay with Sanjiv who graduated a year ahead of me from Michigan. He works in Dubai as a consultant for Oliver Wyman. Leena Ray another classmate from Michigan met up with us in Dubai. It was actually coincidence that our trips were planned at the same time. It was good to finally meet up with fellow Michigan students.

Sanjiv's apartment was in the Marina. Like in the rest of Dubai, construction was going like crazy. People often said that one third of the world's cranes are in Dubai. Below is a photo from Sanjiv 25th floor balcony.



While in Dubai, I did something that I didn't think I'd do until this winter. I got back up on the snowboard and carved it up. That's right, my first run after dislocating my shoulder last winter was in Dubai, of all places. Ski Dubai in the Mall of the Emirates is an indoor slope that they keep at a constant minus 1 Celsius. We didn't have gloves so I can vouch that the snow was definitely cold. The result gives you all the gear you need except for gloves. Here we are outfitted out below. Nice gear!!!

I was amazed at how they built a slope indoors and took a lot of photos. Here's a shot looking uphill from the bottem of the lift.

The next day we set out to get a look at the Burj. The world's only 6 star hotel. Security is tight and we can only get in if you have a reservation there, be it a room, dinner or just afternoon tea. Alas, we weren't able to get a reservation for any of these and had to look from afar.

We did manage to sneak into another hotel in the area. Below is it's oppulent lobby complete with chandelier.

I neglected to mention that Dubai is the first place that my luggage was lost. After many unanswered phone calls to Gulf Air, I discovered that my bag had not even been loaded on the plane when I left Kuwait. It sat there for 2 days before being discovered. In the meantime, I did some shopping as I was running out of clothes and my travel insurance supposedly should cover it. Leena and Sanjiv went to see a movie while I did my shopping. I needed a pair of jeans and decided to get them at a place called Jack Jones in the Mall of the Emirates. I tried on 2 pairs but they didn't fit. They were a bit oddly shaped for me or I was oddly shaped for them. The sales clerk wasn't a whole lot of help so I ransacked the shelves and tried a some more jeans on. After some time and no help from the sales guy, I finally found a pair that fit. At the check out counter, the same sales clerk said to me. "You're a bitch." I said, "Excuse me." and he repeated that I was a bitch. He said it in such a way that it could be construed as a compliment or at least I think that's how he meant it. He wasn't mad at all, just matter of fact. I was befuddled and didn't know what to say. I managed a "Thank you" and made a hasty exit from the store.

Kuwait - Souheil's Brother & Shopping Malls, Shopping Malls and Oil

In Kuwait, I stayed with Souheil's brother, Sami, and his family. Sami and his wife run a construction management business in Kuwait. Their work primarily involved stores in shopping malls, notably Starbucks.


My first night in town involved Sami giving me a tour of the country/city. We drove all over and even went up in the Kuwait towers at night as shown below.


When Iraq invaded Kuwait, the "barbaric Iraqi invaders" destroyed the Kuwait towers. Photos of the destruction with accompanying captions were on display in the towers as shown below.

Hussam picked me up the next day and we went to see the fish market. Hussam negotiated my way on a fishing boat while it was in harbor. Below is a photo I took with the crew.

After visiting the boats, we went into the fish market where hundreds of baskets of shrimp were for sale. Apparently we were there right at prime time shrimping season.

Our next stop was the Arabian Gulf (or Persian Gulf as we know it in American). I went down and put my hand in the water thus keeping with my principal of touching every major body of water I've been to.
Sami and his wife have two kids named Malek (age 8) and Leanne (age 7). They both reminded me of my cousins. We played table tennis and Malek introduced me to the Nintendo Wii. Man, I loved it. I proceeded to get the high scores in Home Run Derby and in Golf Chipping. I played it when everyone went to sleep. Below Malek is showing me how to bowl and Leann is doing something, I'm not too sure.
Hussam took me around town while Sami was at work. Hussam works for Sami but his workload was light so Sami had him drive me around town. Hussam sometimes drove like a maniac and his car's AC needed some work. It broke down twice when I was there. Once it broke down on a day that was 54 Celsius (129.2 Fahrenheit). That sucked!! Below is a photo of Hussam dropping me off at the airport.

Beirut - Party Without the People and the End

You could tell Beirut was at one time a big party city but on my visit no one was there. Streets that used to be crowded with people were empty. There were a few stragglers here and there. Some people had changed their travel plans because of the city's volatily. Notable, DLai, a classmate of mine from Michigan and fellow world traveler, did not go as planned to the area. I only learned this when reading his long awaited reply to my many e-mails as I sat in an internet cafe in Beirut. All I have to say is that he is a wussy.

In Beirut, I met up with Ibraham in my dorm room. Ibraham is a college professor of economics in Rotterdam who decided to take some time off. He and I hiked all over the city. We walked about 2 hours to the beach on the Mediteranean to see the Rocks below.



On our way, we walked through some areas of the city that had still not been repaired from the fighting in Beirut. Below is a photo of the Holiday Inn on the left with large artillery holes still in it and new high rise construction on the right.

The following day Ibraham and I ventured out to Byblos. It's supposed to be one of the older continuously inhabited towns in the world (but I've read about a lot of towns in the area with this proported claim). The ancient city of Byblos was pretty much in ruins except for a Crusader castle and 4 Roman columns. Below is a photo of the castle and old port.

As I previously mentioned, Beirut was deserted. Below is a photo of the clock tower in the downtown area. Normally, this area is jam-packed with people but as you can see no one is there now.

Near the clock tower, Ibraham and I thought our lives were about to end. We were walking down a street that we thought was closed to traffic. Razor wire and barricades were every where. Out of no where comes this old Chevy Caprice. It's gunning down the road and screeches to a halt about 50 feet from us. The driver smiling. My heart skipped a beat. I thought to myself, "This is it. The end. This guy's going to blow up his car." Quickly an armed soldier came over and started yelling at the guy. There were two other high school aged boys in the area. They were laughing. We weren't because we didn't understand what they were saying in Arabic. Ibraham and I laughed later because we both thought it was the end. We thought what are the odds that this joker/bomber chose the street we were on out of all the empty streets in Beirut. We breathed a sigh of relief and headed on. Still I little on-edge though.

Close to the clock tower is a mosque, the name of which I forget. Apparently the former prime minister was assassinated with a large bomb right next to the mosque. Hence, our nervousness about the potential car bomb.

Ibraham and I went out Friday and Saturday night. The only real places to go were in the Christian area because alcohol is not against the religion. The first night we went out near our hostel. The bars were pretty packed compared to the rest of town. On Saturday night, we went to Monot Street where all the clubs are. Not much seemed to be happening in the clubs so we went to a bar with a live band. The band was rather interesting because they covered songs from the "60s, 70s and 80s and U2" (as per the lead singer). The funny part about the band is that they were so far off key that it took me a good 2 minutes to figure out which song they were covering. Below is a photo of Ibraham and myself at the bar.

Nazareth - Meeting Souheil's Uncle

I had one day left before I had to get to Amman to catch my flight. In order to make it into Amman for my flight, I would have to spend the previous night in Jerusalem because the border crossing can be difficult.

On my way to the bus station, I debated heading straight back to Jerusalem or spending a couple of hours in Nazareth, where Souheil whom I worked for in New Orleans grew up and where Jesus grew up as well. I made the decision to head to Nazareth when I saw the bus pull up. I thought to myself man, I hope I make it back to Jerusalem tonight because Nazareth is in the wrong direction.

On the bus I did some more debating. I had the phone numbers of Souheil's family up in town. I knew I could only stay there a couple of hours if I wanted to make it to Jerusalem for the night. I wasn't sure if it would be worth calling them. After some self-deliberation, I gave them a call. The first two numbers didn't work but the third rang through to Rania, Souheil's cousin. She was expecting me and told me to call when I got to the bus station (at least that's what I heard). I stayed on the bus waiting for the bus to stop at the station but it never did. I was the last one on the bus and the driver asked me in Hebrew where I was going. I gave him a blank star. Then he asked in English. I told him Nazareth. He said I missed it and then told me to get off the bus and take another bus back into town. He pulled over and booted me from the bus. I got off and called Rania to tell her what happened. I had to track down a local to help me tell Rania where I was because I didn't have a clue. Luckily, the owner of a pizza joint near by helped me out. Rania came and picked me.

We headed back to her house to pick up her sister Shereen and then we headed out to see the sights of Nazareth. The first stop was the Church of Annunciation where an archangel told Mary she would have Jesus. The church looked fairly modern as shown in the photo below.

They also had a grotto/cave where it's believed Jesus, Mary and Joseph lived. Below is a photo. People like to through money and prayers down there. Andrew, you'd have some good reading down there for sure.

Afterwards, they showed me the Well of Mary, the White Mosque, and the Greek Orthodox Church of Annunciation. They have a different sight than the Catholic church. Kinda funny.

We grabbed a shwarma for dinner and had kanofta for dessert. Pretty tasty. Then we headed back to the family house to visit with the family. People came from left and right. I was shaking a lot of people's hands. Sadly I don't remember everyone. Here I am with Souheil's family below. From right to left, there's Rania, her mother, me and Nazrieh (I think he's a cousin or friend. I'm not sure).

Below is me with Souheil's uncle. Everyone was very happy to have me there even if I was there only for a few hours.

After only 3 hours in town, I headed out to catch the bus. Rania drove me to where she thought the stop was but we missed the bus. Actually, it drove by and the driver waved at us (I'm not sure why). Then the next bus stopped to say we just missed the last bus. We hoped back in the car and tried to catch up to the other bus. We also explored me taking a taxi back until some one called Rania to tell her they had just seen the bus. Rania gunned it and we finally caught up to the bus. It was stopped and we pulled right in front of it. For some reason the driver ignored us and pulled out. Rania honked and then the driver pulled over and let me get on. Rania was a life saver because I had to make Jerusalem that night in order to cross the border the next day. I made it back to Jerusalem without problem. Phew. Another close call averted.

Tel Aviv - Beaches and Sun

Tel Aviv was a nice break in traveling. It kinda felt like being in New York for some reason but the beaches were a lot better. The beach on the Mediteranean Sea was great, although a little hot. Ian and Andrew sat out in the sun while I sought the shade. Ian managed to get a nice burn while I was relatively unscathed. The beach was crowded with loads of French on their summer holiday. They didn't bother us too much.

Tel Aviv is a fairly modern city. I hiked to Jaffa and up the hill to get this photo of Tel Aviv and the beach.

On my last night in town, I went down to the beach to meet up with Addi and her friends. Addi is a classmate of mine from Michigan. As always, I took some photos of the sunset. I'm going to have so many photos of sunsets when I return to the US that I probably won't remember where they are from.

I did manage to get bacon and eggs for breakfast on my last day there. I was craving a decent breakfast for a long time. Previously, I had been surviving on pastries and falafel sandwhiches. Bacon and eggs hit the spot.

West Bank - Bethlehem

Yesterday, we headed out to Bethlehem to visit the Church of Nativity, where Jesus was born. We didn't know how to get there so I went to the Tourist Information Office and asked about lodging and buses. I guess I asked at the wrong place. The guy wearing a yamaka and a star of david necklace told me, "Take an Arab bus. That's all I know." And so, we headed out to the Arab bus station and off we went. We decided to just make a day trip of it.

Before passing into the West Bank, we had to go through a check point in the Separation Wall. Since we were tourists, we were promoted to the front of the line. On the other side of the Wall, the taxi drivers were all over us for rides to the Church. They started out at 80 shekels but we finally got them down to 8 total. Quite a reduction but I think they are really hard up for money in Bethlehem, much more so than Ramallah.

Below are some photos of the Church of Nativity. Here's the outside.

Two photos of the inside...

Then here is the birthplace of Jesus, represented by a 16 pointed star.

We think this is his crib because a lot of people were taking photos next to it. I decided to do so as well. Swindell, I think you would have liked this place. Oh I almost forgot, while we were waiting in line to see the birth place, we were talking about all the decorations for the birth place of Jesus. Freddy, one of the guys who was with us, said, "But guys Jesus was born in Bethlehem." We gave him a weird look and said, "Where do you think you are?" Then he remembered that we were in Bethlehem. Strange guy and he's a teacher in Milwaukee. I feel sorry for those kids.

Then we grabbed some dinner and they told us that in Jerusalem we would have paid double the price. We told them we were thankful. The Wall has some graffiti on it and I took a photo. Going through the check point to come back to the Israeli side was much more intimidating. It was kinda like a prison in there with many doors and channels. We were directed through a metal detactor by an omnious voice from no where. We couldn't see this girl at all but she could see us and was telling us exactly what to do. "Go to your right. Proceed.... etc." We made it through without hassle though.

West Bank - Ramallah

Today, we went to Ramallah for a quick day trip. Ramallah is in the West Bank and is where Arafat will be laid to rest. I was pretty nervous on the way there because this was the West Bank but everything worked out really well. The Palestinians were more friendly than the Israelis. A lot of people spoke excellent English. I actually thought it was very progressive and most like the West of all the places I've been thus far. I even had a cheeseburger there at Checkers. The soldiers and police were extremely helpful in giving us directions. Below are two photos of the streets of Ramallah.




We hit up this ice cream place that's supposed to be world famous but I forget the name.

Afterwards, we went to Yasser Arafat's tomb. Right now, it's just a memorial and they were building a mosque and moseleum behind it as shown in the photo below. We had a guard with us the whole time we were here and he pointed out the room where Arafat was staying for awhile.

On our way back into Israel, we crossed through the Wall. The crossing was heavily guarded. Ian and Andrew weren't thinking and took some photos. The guards called to the bus driver on a load speaker and they had to get out. I went with them to the guard shack and they were forced to delete their photos. I told them they were retards for taking photos. We all thought their cameras would be confiscated but luckily they weren't.

Jerusalem - The Holy City

We're staying in the Old City of Jerusalem because that's where the cheap hostels are and all the religious sights. We slept in a bit after being exhausted from crossing the border. When we got up we headed straight for the Wailing Wall.

The Wailing Wall is the last remains of the Second Temple of Solomon and is a very religious spot for the Jewish religion. We had to wear a cardboard yamaka while there. While we were there, Andrew and I were accosted by a guy who drew us into a huddle and covered our heads with a scarf. He said a prayer for us and then hit us up for money. We didn't give him any.

Our next stop was the Temple of the Rock and Al Aqsa mosque. The temple pictured above was beautiful with parts of the Koran inscribed around the outside. Because we weren't Muslim, we weren't allowed inside. Andrew went inside though because he could speak Arabic and passes as a Muslim. The guards didn't really question him but told him that Ian and I weren't allowed in.

Afterwards, we walked the stations of the cross. The first station is actually a basketball court now. We got a kick out of that. The photo below is from the Second Station where Jesus was flogged.

The last stations are in the Church of the Holy Sepulcural. (not sure on my spelling). This is where Jesus was stripped of his clothes and nailed to the cross. Below is a photo of where the cross is believed to have been. You can touch the spot but the line was too long for me but we did run into the 6 Palestinian American cousins from the border here.

The next station we went to is the tomb of Jesus. We got in line behind the cousins and joked that it took forever the last time we were behind them. Everyone laughed. We went into the tomb but we whisked out of it pretty quickly because there were so many people inside. It was pretty moving.

Also during the day, we were searching for a hostel named Black Horse. We asked a store owner for directions and he told us the way. Then he asked us to come into his shop. We declined. Then he asked if his boy could show us to the hostel for 2 shekels. We declined that offer as well. Then, the three of us thought we heard the shop keeper say "Fuck you" to us. We all had puzzled looks on our face and Andrew asked him, "What?" He responded "As you wish." We went on our merry way but were pretty sure he told us fuck you.

Israel/Palestine - Waiting at the Border

It took forever for us to cross the border because there were 6 Palestinian Americans in front of me in line. They had been to Syria and were getting grilled with questions. The questions ranged from "What were you doing in Sweden in 2004?" to "Who is your uncle married to?" They seemed to be having a hard time with the family tree but I found out later that the guards were asking about in-laws and since they were cousins they weren't familiar with all the in laws. At one point, a guy came out and yelled for one of them named Olga. He found here and then announced to the whole waiting room that she was going to Jordan today and not to Israel. She would get a red stamp in her passport and never be allowed in again. I think that was all for show because she was questioned again and eventually they all made it in.

Luckily the border guards changed so I got a fresh one. I was worried I would get one of the lady guards who was bossing the people around in front of me. My lady was pretty nice and I even pulled out the guide book to show her where I was staying.

I made it through and Ian did too. Andrew took 2 hours longer because his mother is Egyptian making him of Arab descent. He told us all the did was make him wait and ask him the same questions about 30 times. Where are you going? Why? What do you do in the US? Where are you from? He showed them some surgery photos on his ipod to explain what he did in the US and that grossed them out. They certainly believed he did surgery though. Then, they relaxed a little bit when he told them he was going to Bethleham because that's where Jesus was born. The guard realized he was Christian not Muslim.

I think the Jordan/Israel border crossing is one of the world's most difficult and it certainly proved so.

Israel/Palestine - Crossing the Border

On Monday, we woke up and met up with Jen, the annoying American girl that's been tagging along with us. She's too high maintenance and is a different mindset than the rest of us. But she managed to find a friend whose very similar to her, demanding and all. She asked if her new friend could come and I said yes since we could share the cost with her. I didn't know it but the others had agreed that she could come for free. Ian told me this but I asked her for money anyway when we got to the border.

We dropped the car off and walked to the Jordinian side of the King Hussien bridge only to learn that the border was closed. After much debate amongst our group of 5, we rented the car again and headed back to Amman. Ian, Andrew and I were especially disappointed because we wanted to get rid of these girls.

We spent the night at a very friendly Palestinian guy named Fadi, whom Jen asked about lodging at the border. We were lucky because the family had 2 houses and they were moving into the one we stayed on Friday. They already had some matresses there. Apparently, the guy's father runs 12 gas stations in Saint Louis, Missouri. Fadi will be going to Saint Louis University in the fall.

The next morning we set out for the border. We arrived on the Israeli side at 10:30 am but didn't leave until 6 pm. Lots of waiting that I'll elaborate more on later because I gotta go get some dinner.

Jordan - More Petra and the Dead Sea

We woke up early in the morning and headed out to Petra. We were hoping to beat the crowds there and do a hike through an empty river canyon. A tunnel at the start of the river canyon was created by the people of Petra to divert flash floods that used to wipe out the city. After crawling through some narrow rock canyons we made it to some tombs that were far away and above the water line. After some more hiking we connected up with some other parts f Petra that we had seen before. We were a bit Petra-ed out and decided to hurry on back.

We, then, drove to the Dead Sea. We made it but not without a close encounter with oncoming traffic. We were heading down this hill and there was a car trying to pass a truck on the other side of the road. Andrew didn't see the car right away and I yelled out, "Car, car." He slammed on the brakes and laid down some rubber. The tires screeched as we slid for good bit. The tires on this rental car suck!!!

As I said we made it to the Dead Sea and went for a swim. Swimming was surreal. It's like nothing I've ever experienced before. Because of the salt content, you can't sink so you just float on the water. I jumped in first and floated on my stomach. Everyone that I was joking and that I used my hands to keep myself afloat. Well, at least that's what they thought until I raised my hands and still floated. You could also float standing upright in the water. I basically just stood up and was able to float. Pretty cool.

After watching the sunset, we drove off to Amman.

Jordan - Petra and the Rental Car

Today, I saw Petra and can cross it off the list of Wonders of the World I've seen. Petra was an old hidden city of traders who controled the spice trade. They were the link with the western world and the persian empire. The Romans kept on trying to conquer the city but couldn't because there is only one canyon into the city. Well, they couldn't until a Roman spy snuck into the city and figured out that the water comes from springs near the Roman soldiers camp. They just simply cut off the water supply and were able to conquer the city after trying for over 20 years.



Petra has tombs that are carved into the side of the limestone canyons. I can't really do the buildings justice without pictures and will try to post something soon.



As I previously mentioned, I am now traveling with 3 other solo travelers: an Egyptian-American guy, an American girl, and a Canadian guy. I rented a car with them but this American girl is really annoying (focused entirely on herself) but we can't get rid of her because she paid for a quarter of the car. This Egyptian-American guy and the Canadian told me they were thinking about bailing and heading back to Aqaba. Apparently, the girl is too much for them and they don't want to head to Amman any more. The only problem, I told them is that I can't drive the car. I tried late last night but coudn't find first gear. I rented the car in my name with my credit card for extra insurance so I pretty much have to stay with the car. Anyone can drive in Jordan though. The two guys looked at me perplexed because they hadn't considered that I couldn't get the car anywhere. Now we're best buds because we're in it together. Kinda funny how that worked out though.



I'm stuck in this room because it has air conditioning and I thought it cost a total of 5 Jordanian Dinars a night. I was told the room was 5 dinars while a bed on the roof is 2. The 2 guys were psyched about the roof but I couldn't understand why they would want it considering AC costs only .5 dinars more per person. I knew they were on a budget but I thoguht that was extreme.... Well until I found out the AC room is 5 per person, 10 for the whole room. That sucked but at least I have AC. The downside is that I am in with the annoying girl.



Adding to the confusion, I thought I was sharing a double room with her buthotel room with her that I thought was a double. It turns out it is but it's just one large bed. The American girl took a nap earlier and surprise, surprise she slept in the middle of the bed. I had to wake her up to take my nap as well.

Jordan - The Slowest Fast Ferry and Wadi Rum

I finally made it to Jordan yesterday. I took the "fast" ferry from Nuweiba, Egypt to Aqaba. It was supposed to leave at 3 pm but it didn't deaprt until 9 pm. While waiting, I met 2 Americans (Andrew and Jennifer) and one Canadian (Ian). We all got along sharing in the miserable heat while we waited for the ferry. We asked some people and they said the ferry leaves when it leaves. That's just the way it is. We didn't get to our hotel in Aqaba until 1:30 am. That sucked but these Polish people we met had it worse. They were the ones who recommended the hotel. They left in a cab about 30 minutes before us but the cab took them to the wrong hotel. Unbeknownst to us, we got to the hotel ahead of them and took the last air conditioned room. We haven't seen them since they showed up at our hotel to learn the only room that was left had a fan.

The North Americans and I decided to rent a car from Avis in Aqaba and are now roadtripping across Jordan. We got into Wadi Rum late last night and slept underneath the stars. Well, I tried to sleep but the American girl was drinking and talking too much so I hopped in the car and fell asleep comfortably in there. I think I only got 3 hours of sleep because the sun woke us all up.

Ian and I went for a walk in the Wadi Rum dessert for 2 hours. We hiked out and saw some sand dunes and great rocks. I'll see about uploading photos. The only people we saw on our hike was a Bedouian shepherd with his herd of goats and sheep and a young boy riding a camel. It was so hot on our hike and on a few hours of sleep we were exhausted afterwards. Thank god our car is air conditioned.

Egypt - Deep Blue Dahab

On my last day in Dahab, I went snorkeling right in front of our hostel. There's a coral reef out there that drops off steeply. The drop off was pretty dramatic and all I could see was deep blue sea. It was pretty cool and very refreshing. I paddled around out there for an hour or two. I saw some lion fish and many other colorful fish whose names I don't know.